String tracking devices have become very popular recently among bowhunters in that the better string tracking devices insure that mortally wounded game can be retrieved even in the absence of a blood trail.
Briefly stated, the conventional design for a string mechanism involves a spool containing a quantity of very fine thread or string; wherein, the spool is mounted on the front of a bow and the free end of the string is attached to a hunting arrow. When the arrow strikes the game animal or bird, the string pays out of the spool as the wounded game flees from the area leaving a trail of string which extends from the fleeing game to the bowhunter. By following the string the bowhunter will be able to trace the path that the game traveled up to the point where it expired.
While string tracking mechanisms are a positive contribution to game conservation in that they enable mortally wounded game to be recovered, they also present problems for the bowhunter in that conventional arrows with their streamlined configurations are not designed to facilitate the attachment of the free end of a tracking string to any of the arrows external surfaces.
One of the prior art solutions to this problem has been to tie the string to the threaded stem of the broadhead so as to capture the string between the broadhead and the collar of the conventional threaded insert in the arrow shaft that allows different arrow points to be used with the shaft.
Another solution has been to capture a wire extension element between the broadhead and the insert collar; wherein, the trailing end of the wire element is formed into a loop, which projects outwardly from the arrow shaft and provides a surface to which the free end of the tracking string may be tied.
Not only does this later solution add unwanted weight to the arrow shaft causing the arrow to drop below its normal arc of trajectory; but, the protruding unbalanced projection of the wire element also drastically alters the aerodynamic profile of the arrow and imparts erratic characteristics to its flight.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, it comes as somewhat of a surprise that to date no one has developed a low profile, lightweight, string attaching device for arrows that is quick, convenient and easy to use; yet, which also does not unduly alter the aerodynamic characteristics of an arrow upon which it is installed.
Needless to say, there has been a longstanding need among bowhunters for a device having the aforementioned characteristics, and the provision of such a device is the stated objective of this invention.